A wireless communication device camped in connected mode on a serving cell can be configured with measurement gaps, which are time intervals during which the wireless communication device can tune away from the serving cell to measure a second cell. The wireless communication device can then send a measurement report to the serving network based on the measurement of the second cell. The serving network can use the measurement report as a basis for handover decisions.
Performing measurements during a measurement gap can be quite costly to the wireless communication device in terms of power consumption. In this regard, a wireless communication device may have to tune away from a frequency used by the serving cell and tune to a second frequency that may be used by a second cell and/or have to temporarily switch from a stack for a radio access technology (RAT) that can be used by the serving cell to a stack that can be used for a second RAT that may be used by the second cell in order to perform measurement of the second cell. The wireless communication device can then perform a measurement of the second cell before transitioning back to the serving cell. This process of tuning away from the serving cell to perform a measurement of the second cell and then returning to the serving cell can be intensive in terms of power consumption, which can limit battery life and negatively impact user experience. However, in many cases, the performance of measurements during measurement gaps does not yield any additional information beyond that known from a prior measurement.